Flying in day of-Port Canaveral

[nickiefriend]

I am trying to convince myself that it will be ok to fly in the day of our cruise. SW gets us in (if on time) at 9:30. Collect baggage by 10, 1 hour uber to port Canaveral should be there by 11.  Has anyone ever done this or am I really stupid for considering this?

[Ashland]

You're definitely not stupid....many on these boards will never understand flying in pre-cruise isn't always an option to some. Your flight time sounds like you'll be fine...Do whatever works out best for you personally !!

[Tapi]

As an airline pilot. I would never advice someone, or personally take, a flight that arrives on the same day of the cruise. 

 

With that said, the odds are vastly in your favor that everything will be ok and you’ll make your cruise. A lot of people do take flights that arrive on the same day of the cruise and make it without problems. But there’s always a small percentage who don’t. Just yesterday, I operated a flight to San Juan and probably 1/3 of passengers onboard were sailing that same evening. We did pull a delay because the original flight attendants timed out and we had to get new ones. Thankfully by the time we landed, passengers still had 3 hours before sailing. This is the kind of unforeseen circumstances that can potentially spoil cruise plans. It’s not just weather or mechanical problems. 

 

As far as having no choice but to fly on the day of the cruise, it really boils down to your personal level of tolerance. Some people will book a cruise even if they can’t fly in the day before the cruise, while others will never book a cruise unless they can fly in at least one day before the cruise. 

Edited August 19, 2019 by Tapi

[Flymia]

The thing you have going for you are morning flights tend to have less delays. 

 

That being said if you can, always best to avoid it especially with the miles distance between MCO and the port. Its not like the 15-mins from from MIA to the port or 10-min drive from FLL to the port. 

 

Chances are very high that everything goes well. But your chances of missing the ship are significantly higher compared to someone who flies in that day before of course. 

 

Every cruise has someone who misses the ship, most of the time because of flight delays the day of. Remember flying back from London and on the terminal transfer bus was a large family group complaining about never flying American again because their small 3-hour delay from Miami to London meant they missed their ship out of another European port because they missed the connection and lost 2-days. 

 

Again, morning flight and non-stop are two positives. High chance everything is fine. But personally, I would never do it. Even if it meant arriving at MCO at 1am. 

[JohninDC]

Too risky for me, but lots choose to fly in the day of their cruise. In case there's an issue have you checked the schedule for the next flight that will get you to MCO? I would also invest in good trip insurance.

[skrufy]

8 hours ago, nickiefriend said:

I am trying to convince myself that it will be ok to fly in the day of our cruise. SW gets us in (if on time) at 9:30. Collect baggage by 10, 1 hour uber to port Canaveral should be there by 11.  Has anyone ever done this or am I really stupid for considering this?

You did not say what time of year your flying. There two areas I worry about when flying the same day. Number one thunderstorms in south Florida putting holds on flights up and down the east coast, and Rte. 528 the road from MCO has no alternate route to Port Canaveral once you are out of the Orlando area ( worked in Orlando, seen it backup ). Does not happen often but you never know when Orlando traffic backs up. And a third, hope your flying direct, I would never use connecting flights the day of a cruise, to risky, cancellations, mechanical, and weather delays. All goes well 930am is fine. We have flown the day of and arrive early in the morning also, but never longer than about an hour and a half flight.

Edited August 20, 2019 by skrufy
Addition

[judy5000]

We tried and lost on our last cruise so never again for us. However I guess the odds were against us flying Spirit.

[crewsweeper]

32 minutes ago, judy5000 said:

We tried and lost on our last cruise so never again for us. However I guess the odds were against us flying Spirit.

That was a huge qamble with Spirit... Not a good OT record for them.  Sorry it didn't work out for you.

 

OP...where are you flying in from? Is that the originating airport or a stop from somewhere else?  Non-Stop to MCO or a stop some where?

 

A 9:30 arrival at MCO is doable.  Book a shuttle service in advance, if cheaper than Uber.  Several reviews of shuttle services on this board.   On a Saturday or Sunday morning, traffic should not be heavy.  But as long as you can get to the ship by 2:30P, you're fine, if there are delays landing at MCO on time.  Take the 800- number for  the cruise line's customer service, in case there are further delays.

[MalleyCat]

Don't do it. We've had numerous flights with delays and we fly in the day before. I can't imagine attempting to go day of. You may be going from Atlanta to Florida (which in theory should be easy) but who knows where the plane is coming in from to get you there.

[TNcruising02]

People do it all of the time, but there is always a risk.  I have personally experienced too many flight delays and cancellations (even first flights of the morning in the summer) to ever do it myself.  The odds are you will make it.  It really depends on whether or not you want to take the risk.  My experiences with Southwest have been much better than Delta, United, and American.  If I had to gamble on an early morning same-day flight, it would be with Southwest.

[ariesknowbest]

On 8/19/2019 at 2:36 PM, nickiefriend said:

I am trying to convince myself that it will be ok to fly in the day of our cruise. SW gets us in (if on time) at 9:30. Collect baggage by 10, 1 hour uber to port Canaveral should be there by 11.  Has anyone ever done this or am I really stupid for considering this?

The only thing I questions is finding an Uber that is willing to drive you for an hour.  

[Flymia]

Spirit these days is doing pretty well with on-time performance actually . https://www.forbes.com/sites/grantmartin/2019/04/20/spirit-airlines-edges-out-delta-air-lines-as-most-on-time-air-carrier-so-far-in-2019/#1d6733bc14a1

[mrpayroll]

There is always a risk, but we have arrived at MCO at 11 am and made it with plenty of time to spare. The luggage area is full of people arriving the morning of. The cruise lines even have hosts waiting to check people in for their bus to get to the ports.

[Beardface]

The only thing I'll say about Port Canaveral is the earlier you can arrive the better.  I understand that not everyone can fly in the day before, and that's ok.  My wife and I did a couple days in the theme parks before heading to our ship, but there was still some confusion the day of because the cruise line never registered that we needed transportation, even though we booked the theme park stay through them.  Long story short, we ended up getting there just fine, but that was an incredibly stressful time, and I can't imagine what I'd do if I was flying in and the flight had any kind of delay.

 

If a 9am arrival is the earliest you can get, definitely do that, but I'd even try to get there a little earlier.  Remember, the Orlando airport is a little different in that you're dealing primarily with people who are there to vacation in either a theme park or cruise, and they're moving on vacation speed.  If you have somewhere to be, it might be a little more stressful than you would otherwise expect.  90% of the time, you're going to be just fine, but that other 10% is going to be an absolute nightmare.  At the very least, make sure you set up transportation to Port Canaveral through the cruise line, so you can relax once you hit baggage claim.

 

 

[Beardface]

On 8/20/2019 at 2:25 PM, TNcruising02 said:

People do it all of the time, but there is always a risk.  I have personally experienced too many flight delays and cancellations (even first flights of the morning in the summer) to ever do it myself.  The odds are you will make it.  It really depends on whether or not you want to take the risk.  My experiences with Southwest have been much better than Delta, United, and American.  If I had to gamble on an early morning same-day flight, it would be with Southwest.

 

Depends on the originating airport and if its a direct flight.  For us, RDU might not be a hub for any airline, but Delta has made it a focus city, so we still have direct flights to most of the popular domestic destinations.  And most of those flights, if they aren't just a shuttle back and forth, they're still only going to other spokes off of RDU before coming back, and its pretty much only regional jets.  We rarely deal with the kind of cascading delays that you see in some of the larger airports, so if yours is like that, you might be fine.  I routinely fly Delta, because they're really the best option for us to most destinations.

[TNcruising02]

24 minutes ago, Beardface said:

 

Depends on the originating airport and if its a direct flight.  For us, RDU might not be a hub for any airline, but Delta has made it a focus city, so we still have direct flights to most of the popular domestic destinations.  And most of those flights, if they aren't just a shuttle back and forth, they're still only going to other spokes off of RDU before coming back, and its pretty much only regional jets.  We rarely deal with the kind of cascading delays that you see in some of the larger airports, so if yours is like that, you might be fine.  I routinely fly Delta, because they're really the best option for us to most destinations.

That's true, but it was when I was flying on Delta that I almost missed my cruise the following day.  Weather delays caused a flight delay to my layover city.  This was going to cause me to miss my flight from Atlanta to Miami.  Delta said that the soonest they could get me to Miami was 4:00 pm THE NEXT DAY.  So, I went online and booked the last flight out on Southwest from Atlanta to FLL and made it to my hotel that same day.  Delta said they had no flights available for me on ANY plane going to anywhere in Florida.  I was willing to just get to Florida and drive to Miami.  Southwest saved my cruise.  But I do get what you are saying.

[Beardface]

12 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

That's true, but it was when I was flying on Delta that I almost missed my cruise the following day.  Weather delays caused a flight delay to my layover city.  This was going to cause me to miss my flight from Atlanta to Miami.  Delta said that the soonest they could get me to Miami was 4:00 pm THE NEXT DAY.  So, I went online and booked the last flight out on Southwest from Atlanta to FLL and made it to my hotel that same day.  Delta said they had no flights available for me on ANY plane going to anywhere in Florida.  I was willing to just get to Florida and drive to Miami.  Southwest saved my cruise.  But I do get what you are saying.

 

Yeah, and that's why I said earlier that 90% of the time, you're going to be fine, but that other 10% is going to be a massive nightmare.  Flying is already a stressful time on its best days, and when things go wrong, they can quickly spiral.  I have personally never flown day of a cruise and hopefully never will, but for those who have no choice, I strongly suggest getting the earliest possible departure.  Not just because it'll get you there with plenty of time to spare, but generally, the earliest departures have the planes sitting on the tarmac overnight, so you're significantly reducing risk of the origination flight being delayed.

[TNcruising02]

12 minutes ago, Beardface said:

 

Yeah, and that's why I said earlier that 90% of the time, you're going to be fine, but that other 10% is going to be a massive nightmare.  Flying is already a stressful time on its best days, and when things go wrong, they can quickly spiral.  I have personally never flown day of a cruise and hopefully never will, but for those who have no choice, I strongly suggest getting the earliest possible departure.  Not just because it'll get you there with plenty of time to spare, but generally, the earliest departures have the planes sitting on the tarmac overnight, so you're significantly reducing risk of the origination flight being delayed.

I agree with you.  I always fly in at least one day early and that has saved at least one of my cruises because it gave me time to find another flight.  I would definitely choose the first flight of the morning if I had no choice but to fly in the day of the cruise.  I have had two first morning flights cancelled on me though.  Both were cancelled the day before the flight.  One was for my son and he had to be in Houston by a certain time.  With the cancelled flight, United could not get my son on another flight that would get him to his flight out of the country on time, so my husband had to drive all night to get him there.  The other time was on American and we had the option of flying out on a smaller plane, which we took.  

Edited August 22, 2019 by TNcruising02

[fla gang]

Living in Florida, I wouldn't want to take a chance that the Beechline may be shut down(hwy 528) because of an accident. I have gotten stuck on that stretch before!

[fla gang]

We just had a 1 1/2 hour delay in Los Angeles waiting on flight attendants on our return from Alaska cruise.

[Ashland]

10 hours ago, fla gang said:

We just had a 1 1/2 hour delay in Los Angeles waiting on flight attendants on our return from Alaska cruise.

Yes...and that can happen anywhere anytime. Our longest 7 hours at PHL trying to get to our cruise out of Dublin. Luckily the first night of the cruise was overnight in Dublin.

 

Weather wasn't the issue...mechanical problems, FA's timed out, passenger had emergency, and then finally the Captain timed out.

[CineGraphic]

Everyone will have their own set of circumstances based on variables such as location, time of year, day of the week, etc...

 

Only you can determine the percentage of risk you are comfortable with.

 

When we cruise out of Port Everglades, we catch the 1st non-stop Southwest flight out of Atlanta, 7:05AM.

Their on-time record is excellent.

This gives us plenty of time, and options to get there if things go wrong.

 

Any other port, and I'd lean towards flying in at least a day early. Why start your vacation of, in a rush, or in a panic.

 

Those needing to go from the east coast to the west have the added luxury of gaining extra hours due to the time zone difference.

 

Book same day flights through Princess, and they'll either hold the boat for you, or get you to the next port.

Either way, you'll be on vacation, you might as well enjoy the adventure! (Having travel insurance never hurts)